Red Sox may escape Oakland closer

Monday

Athletics closer Blake Treinen worked overtime in his last outing so he may not pitch in Boston series.

BOSTON -- The Athletics made their lone visit to Fenway Park this season off the back of a grueling series finale with the Blue Jays on Sunday.

Toronto outlasted Oakland in 11 innings, 5-4, at Rogers Centre. Justin Smoak’s walkoff single through the left side plated Freddy Galvis with the deciding run, as the Blue Jays answered three runs in the top half of the inning by the Athletics with four of their own.

Smoak’s key hit came against Oakland closer Blake Treinen, who threw 39 pitches in his 1-2/3 innings. That sort of taxing workload could have an effect on how the right-hander is used over the next three days against the Red Sox, and it’s certainly not something that escaped Sox manager Alex Cora’s attention.

“Honestly, I don’t want to see him pitch in three days,” Cora said. “If he pitches that’s not good for us. Our goal is to stay away from him regardless. We know where they’re at in the bullpen.”

Treinen was an American League All-Star last season and finished sixth in the Cy Young Award voting. He posted a microscopic 0.78 earned-run average over 68 appearances and 80-1/3 innings of work. The Athletics were 61-7 in games where Treinen made his jog from the bullpen to the mound.

Fellow right-hander Lou Trivino would likely pick up any save chances for the Athletics early in the series. Trivino impressed during his first full season in 2018, allowing just 53 hits and striking out 82 in 74 innings. He’s off to another strong start this year, posting a 1.42 earned-run average through his first 12 appearances.

Pedroia progress: Dustin Pedroia (left knee) went through a full baseball workout Monday afternoon, another step required before he embarks on a scheduled rehab assignment later this week.

Pedroia hit in the batting cage against a pitching machine and took ground balls at second base. The session lasted about an hour in all, as Pedroia performed under the watchful eye of multiple medical staff members. Double-A Portland is his tentative destination ahead of a weekend series with Binghamton beginning on Thursday.

“The goal is for him to leave Wednesday and start playing on Thursday,” Cora said. “They’ll map it out. They’ll go back and forth – what makes sense, what doesn’t make sense, how he feels – and we’ll have a decision.”

Pedroia hasn’t been shy about offering his input to teammates since making his last appearance on April 17 against the Yankees. Eduardo Rodriguez credited Pedroia with suggesting an adjustment on his slider and infielders Rafael Devers and Michael Chavis have both done pregame work with Pedroia over the last week.

“I hate to say it – that talk, I know how it goes,” Cora said. “When you start saying he’s another coach, people start seeing you that way – he’s not another coach. He’s another person who knows the game and is helping his teammates out.”

Injury update: Brock Holt (right eye) appears to have suffered another early setback during a rehab assignment.

Holt was out of the lineup Sunday with Triple-A Pawtucket and returned to Boston late Monday. He reported right shoulder soreness and was scheduled to see a doctor Tuesday morning.

“He was fine – just regular soreness like at spring training and something that he went through last year,” Cora said. “(Sunday) he tried to play catch and it was a different feeling.”

Holt suffered a scratched cornea prior to Opening Day and was pulled back from his first 20-day stint with the PawSox after one game and three at-bats. Holt was unable to see the ball adequately while at the plate and was fitted with a new contact lens.

Eduardo Nunez (back strain) was in the lineup with Pawtucket for the opening game of its Monday doubleheader at Buffalo. Nunez batted second and served as the designated hitter.

“He’ll play second, he’ll play third, he’ll DH,” Cora said. “Then we’ll decide how he feels. We have a pretty good idea at-bats wise what we want.”

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